Lunar orbiter automotive navigation based on camera and laser altimeter

According to the characteristics of lunar orbiter tracking, a novel automotive navigation method based on camera and laser altimeter was proposed. It is aided by historic images and terrain features as to enhance the autonomy of aerospace control. The prototype of the method was studied, and the key technologies was analyzed. Cameras obtain real-time images of the lunar surface, while laser altimeter provides real-time orbital altitude. The altitude data can be introduced to get the resolution of the real-time image, in case camera may bring a series of uncertainties because the orbiter´s altitude changes with the lunar gravity anomaly and topography. This is good for the reliability of image matching. The method of solving the position and attitude of the orbiter is given. The sufficiency and advantages of this method are also discussed.